


I think the wolves have got me

by Tangledtrinkets (Bellzandtrinkets)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-24
Updated: 2012-09-24
Packaged: 2017-11-14 23:42:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/520739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellzandtrinkets/pseuds/Tangledtrinkets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erica is getting used to yes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I think the wolves have got me

She hadn’t cared. 

Back in junior high, she’d tried dressing up. She’d tried curling her hair and wearing heels. Heels made it easier to hurt someone by accident when she seized. She’d tried pretty earrings, and long nails. And then she’d nearly ripped out an earring and scratched the hell out of everyone. She’d tried self confidence, and got a you tube video. Even the people that hadn’t seen it seemed to know she was some sort of pariah by the end of the week.

It was like they smelled blood in the water when she was nearby. 

It was easier to just wear sneakers and wear studs. It was easier to try and be plain so no one could say ‘she was trying too hard’. It was easier to skip lunch and sit with knitting needles and an ipod instead of friends. 

It was easier to pretend she didn’t want to be talked to then to be ignored, or laughed at. Or picked last because ‘your mother doesn’t want her to play contact sports, Erica Marie Reyes, you know that.’ 

Her grandmother, before she died, used to braid Erica’s hair and pin it up on the top of her head like a crown. She used to say “You’re so pretty, Erica, why do you hide your light under a bushel.” Her grandmother used to make warm cinnamon bread and put it next to her meds when she’d stay over, and she’d take hers at the same time. Erica misses her every fucking day. 

Sometimes she looked in the mirror and saw her Gran’s eyes instead and she smiles because she likes it better than thinking she has her mothers. Her mom who tells her “You can’t, Erica” and “Oh honey, but you’re not able to.” and “You shouldn’t try that. You’ll only hurt yourself.”

She used to get angry when she’d see her father’s chin and her mother’s eyes and parts of other people in her own face that just reminded her how many times they’d tell her “no.” 

No. 

What kind of a fucking word is no, what kind of a word is that to tell a little girl who wants to just be normal. No, Erica. Normal’s for girls who don’t have their brains fry and their meds cause moodiness and depression. 

No, Erica. 

No. 

Erica got so sick of the word, no. 

So sick of “Be careful, Erica.” So sick of “but will she stop seizing.” So sick of being talked about like she wasn’t in the room. She’s not slow, she was just trapped. Trapped in a stupid body in a stupid house in a stupid life that was too lonely and one note. 

And then Derek happened. 

And the Transformation. 

And then all she could see was her own eyes, and her own chin, and a face and a body that screamed ‘yes.’

All she she’d ever wanted was a fucking yes. Was that so much to ask for?

People watched her walking down the halls like she was made of fucking gold. Like she was priceless. Derek made her a queen, Isaac looked at her like royalty, and Boyd treated her like a princess. She wasn’t lonely anymore. She had her boys, and they had her. And it was fucking beautiful, damn anyone who said otherwise. Sure, Boyd had the tall dark and silent routine, and Isaac wasn’t great at thinking outside the box, and don’t get her started on Alpha dearest. But that, really, was not the point. The point was, they told her yes. Even Derek. They didn’t look at her and say ‘oh Erica. You poor dear. Erica, don’t do that.’ 

She was so sick of no, the yes was fucking intoxicating. 

She could do anything. Steal anyone from under anyone’s nose. Make anyone want to be her partner and turn them all down for Isaac’s smile and Boyd’s approval. She could sneak out, like any other girl, to meet up with her boys after dark. Her mother’s no, her mother’s ‘Erica, you can’t. Erica, what’s wrong with you lately? Erica? Erica, did you take your meds?’ all fell on deaf ears. 

Erica smiled in the mirror, all teeth and smokey eyes and hoop earrings and curls, and listened to her mom and dad down the hall, wondering where their little Erica had gone. 

She wanted to tell them, so they’d stop. But this? This was hers. 

And their little Erica, the one they’d always said no to…Well. The She Wolf was happy to pronounce her DOA. She was someone else. Someone better. 

And the secret, the biggest secret? This was what she’d always been hiding. 

“You’re so pretty, Erica. Why hide your light under a bushel?”

She’d always been this good. The bite just…made it shine.

She smiled, and slipped out the window. She dropped down the garage, to the shed, and hit the ground running, her mother’s lamenting ‘her poor sweet little girl, and how she’d changed’ ringing in her ears. 

She’d always been ready for all the yes in the fucking world.

**Author's Note:**

> Just me playing with the puzzle that is Erica. Because she's my darling and I love her more than pretty much any other character on the show. Not really beta'd.


End file.
